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Determining efficient multimodal information-interaction spaces for C2 systems

Published: 13 October 2004 Publication History

Abstract

Military operations and friendly fire mishaps over the last decade have demonstrated that Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems may often lack the ability to efficiently and effectively support operations in complex, time critical environments. With the vast increase in the amount and type of information available, the challenge to today's military system designers is to create interfaces that allow warfighters to proficiently process the optimal amount of mission essential data [1]. To meet this challenge, multimodal system technology is showing great promise because, as the technology that supports C4ISR systems advances, the possibility of leveraging all of the human sensory systems becomes possible. The implication is that by facilitating the efficient use of a C4ISR operator's multiple information processing resources, substantial gains in the information management capacity of the warfighter-computer integral may be realized [2]. Despite its great promise, however, the potential of multimodal technology as a tool for streamlining interaction within military C4ISR environments may not be fully realized until the following guiding principles are identified:<ul><li>how to combine visualization and multisensory display techniques for given users, tasks, and problem domains</li><li>how task attributes should be represented (e.g., via which modality, via multiple modalities);</li><li>which multimodal interaction technique(s) is most appropriate.</li></ul>
Due to the current lack of empirical evidence and principle-driven guidelines, designers often encounter difficulties when choosing the most appropriate modal interaction techniques for given users, applications, or specific military command and control (C2) tasks within C4ISR systems. The implication is that inefficient multimodal C2 system design may hinder our military's ability to fully support operations in complex, time critical environments and thus impede warfighters' ability to achieve accurate situational awareness (SA) in a timely manner [1]. Consequently, warfighters are often becoming overwhelmed when provided with more information than they can accurately process. The development of multimodal design guidelines from both a user and task domain perspective is thus critical to the achievement of successful Human Systems Integration (HSI) within military environments such as C2 systems.
This study provides preliminary empirical support in identifying user attributes, such as spatial ability (p < 0.02) and learning style (p < 0.03), which may aid in developing principle-driven guidelines for how and when to effectively present task-specific modal information to improve C2 warfighters' performance. A preliminary framework for modeling user interaction in multimodal C2 environments is also in development and is based on existing theories and models of working memory, as well as from new insights gained from the latest in imaging of electromagnetic (e.g., EEG, ERP, MEG) and hemodynamic (e.g., fMRI, PET) changes in the brain while user's perform predefined tasks. This research represents an innovative way to both predict and accommodate a user's information processing resources while interacting with multimodal systems. The current results and planned follow-on studies are facilitating the development of principle-driven multimodal design guidelines regarding how and when to adapt modes of interaction to meet the cognitive capabilities of users. Although the initial application of such results are focused on determining how and when modalities should be presented, either in isolation or combination, to effectively present task-specific information to C4ISR warfighters, this research shows great potential for its applicability to the multimodal design community in general.

References

[1]
Stanney, K., Reeves, L., Hale, K., Samman, S., Buff, W. (2003). OSD02-CR14: Multimodal Information Perceptual-ization (MIP) for C4ISR Systems. Navy Technical Report TR-203-002.
[2]
Stanney, K., Samman, S., Reeves, L., Hale, K.S., Buff, W., Bowers, C., Goldiez, B., Nicholson, D., & Lackey, S. (in press). A paradigm shift in interactive computing: Deriving multimodal design principles from behavioral and neurological foundations, International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction.

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  1. Determining efficient multimodal information-interaction spaces for C2 systems

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    cover image ACM Conferences
    ICMI '04: Proceedings of the 6th international conference on Multimodal interfaces
    October 2004
    368 pages
    ISBN:1581139950
    DOI:10.1145/1027933
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    Published: 13 October 2004

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    Author Tags

    1. HCI
    2. command and control
    3. guidelines
    4. multimodal design
    5. multisensory

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